ICC Cricket World Cup will cement ODI game’s standing:David Richardson

Lahore: Ahead of ICC Cricket World Cup 2015, which will be co-hosted by Australia and New Zealand for the first time since 1992, the ICC Chief Executive David Richardson has outlined his favourite ICC Cricket World Cup memories and his hopes for the competition, which starts on February 14.

Mr Richardson, who was a member of the South Africa side that reached the semi-finals in that tournament, has also worked at the last three tournaments in the role of ICC General Manager – Cricket, and this will be the first tournament in which he will be Chief Executive of the ICC.

And speaking on the eve of the 11^th instalment of the World Cup, he believes that the state of the 50-over game is in a strong position globally.

“ODI cricket is strong in a number of countries. We’ve just seen a series recently in South Africa where there were full houses and you get good crowds in India and in most parts of the world,” Mr Richardson said.

“I still think that ODI cricket is the perfect bridge between Test cricket, the long traditional form of the game, and the short, entertainment-filled T20. The 50-over game is a marvellous day’s entertainment. With the current ODI regulations encouraging a very attacking approach, be it towards batting, bowling or captaincy, I think that this World Cup will help cement the ODI’s place for the future.”

On how Mr Richardson would like the tournament to be remembered, he added: “For good cricket, as major events are defined by the quality and competitiveness of cricket.”